FSL report confirms sexual assault

The Crime Branch has slapped additional charges of rape as well as kidnapping and robbery against arrested accused Chandrabhan Sanap.

Sanap himself is still not confessing to rape and maintains that he only tried to sexually assault her. (PTI photo)

Nearly two months after the body of an Andhra Pradesh techie was found in Bhandup, the Kalina Forensic Sciences Laboratory Thursday confirmed to the Mumbai Police Crime Branch that her internal organs were seriously injured, indicating sexual assault.

The Crime Branch has slapped additional charges of rape as well as kidnapping and robbery against arrested accused Chandrabhan Sanap.

A senior Crime Branch officer said that apart from results of forensic analysis, the circumstantial evidence also pointed to the possibility of rape having occurred. “The victim’s jeans and undergarments were off the victim’s body when we found it, which made us suspect rape. Sanap himself is still not confessing to rape and maintains that he only tried to sexually assault her.

However, preliminary reports from the FSL indicate that her internal organs were badly injured. We are expecting the FSL’s final report by next week. Sanap’s DNA samples have also been taken and reports of comparison tests are awaited,” said a senior Crime Branch officer, who did not wish to be named.

Sanap had earlier been booked only for murder and destruction of evidence.

The police have also stepped up its search for the victim’s laptop, which Sanap claims to have thrown off a moving train while on his way from Nashik to Mumbai. On Thursday, the police engaged the services of some divers to look for it in the Ulhas river between the Khadavli and the Titwala railway stations. Other possible spots are also being searched.

“We have alerted our informers, as after Sanap threw the laptop from the train, it could have been picked up by someone and sold in a nearby market,” added the officer.